Yona yawned en route to Shirotsume, one hand propping her head against the window and the other holding and reviewing the job request for the eighteenth time. She finally tossed the paper across the passenger car. She had joined up with Adalinda, the infamous drunk, though in truth Yona didn't know anything about her. Her green hair was now much shorter than ever, and the truth behind why had yet to be revealed to anyone. Only she and Johann knew what had happened a couple weeks ago. And in light of that secret event, Yona was trying to put her best foot and best face forward. She needed to find a way to improve her reputation and figure out how to work better with others. The truth was that she had many good ideas but as an overall leader, her skills were lacking. Yona needed to work better with the guild members and the best way to do so was to build up those connections or friendships or whatever. And who better to do it with than the woman who had gone through several near-misses with Yona's violence prone temper?

It had been Yona who sought out Adalinda for this purpose, not the other way around, but riding a train for a couple days to get all the way to Shirotsume was putting Yona on edge. The job request paper floated haphazardly and landed upon Adalinda's feet and Yona gave her a half apologetic, half tired look. "This is ridiculous, don't you agree? Children running off into the woods chasing SwollenMan? What kind of nonsense is that? What kind of idiot lets their kids do something so stupid?" Recent rumors had cropped up of children going missing in the mountains. Around this same time, the families and friends noticed that there was an ongoing trend belief in an evil entity named SwollenMan. "This whole thing is just an extended search and rescue mission because those parents couldn't keep ahold on their damn idiot kids," She shook her head and scoffed, looking out the window through the fog and the shadowing mountain range. As the train bounced and jostled gently through the mist, Yona was thankful that at least they had splurged for the above working class section, granting them a small private car with red velvet couches that flipped open into beds. It wasn't true luxury but Yona had to admire the wooden carvings and decorations lining the car itself. "SwollenMan." Her head shook from side to side in disbelief.

The job request included a report of groups of children and very young mages alike falling prey to the myth of the evil and omnipotent entity named SwollenMan. A grotesque, globular and obese man wearing a pin stripe suit and lacking any facial features, this 'SwollenMan' from folklore was said to kill by the dozens all around the world. Yona believed that the lore stemmed from parents who wanted to scare children into behaving, but more recently it seemed that the rumors were propagated by the various believers who claimed to have seen the SwollenMan. She wanted to tell Adalinda that she hoped she wouldn't raise her kids to be that stupid but decided it might be out of line for her to give the woman any advice on raising children at all.

When she had been sought out, Adalinda had been coming into the guild in her usual haphazard way of dressing, work shirt unbuttoned and untucked to expose her white tank top on underneath it, hair half up in it's ponytail, and her looking rather tired. She's been waiting for the day her babies are born, and getting less sleep from the excitement. Adalinda had been a little surprised being approached by Yona, but figured she should try to work with her as well, that, and Tamaria, her purple cat companion, agreed to doing the job before Ada had the choice to. After they had reached Fiore, Adalinda was cursing under her breath over the fact that Yona had wanted to take a train to get to Shirotsume. Adalinda had asked someone who was working on the train for the strongest bottle of alcohol they had, and already had drank seven bottles worth of it the whole two days they've been riding together on the train. She was pacing herself in the drinking, so she wasn't getting black out drunk, but it was enough to tell that she was buzzed quite the whole ride.

Tamaria was next to her, patting her leg as she looks over to Yona. "Sorry for her... Dragon Slayers get motion sickness in vehicles of any sort... Ada is able to suppress most of it by drinking... but if she's sitting... it works a bit too well." The exceed nervously smiles. She jumps off the bench while Adalinda was humming a hymn to herself and drinking a bit more from the eighth bottle she had in her hand. Tamaria, with her purple eyes, looks to Yona and grins a little, till the green haired girl questioned the ridiculousness of the job. She grabs hold of the paper off of Ada's feet. While she did that, Adalinda leaned forward a bit. She was listening to Yona's ranting on the job, and then grins to the green haired girl warmly. Her hair was pulled back in a neater ponytail due to Tammy taking care of her slayer, and she was a little tidier. While holding the bottle in her left hand, she used her left index finger to point at Yona. "Children, like going off on adventures, hic! Even the really stupid scary ones that ac-hic! actually could hurt them. The village is probably small, a-hic! and they trust the kids to come back. And that they didn't think this Swol man thing is a myth!" She says. Tamaria nods to the drunk slayer. She usually focused better with more alcohol in her, it was just not too understandable when she gets sloshed, which Ada hadn't for a while.

A grin was on the slayers face again as she lays back. She had been occasionally volunteering at the daycare when she wasn't training and off on jobs to get a better handle on taking care of kids. She already had learned that every kid was different, and was still feeling very lost on how to care for children, but the teacher told her that she would be a natural when her babies were born, so she had a bit more confidence in herself now. Tamaria read over the job again as Ada seemed to be enjoying her alcohol. "How much longer till we're at Shirotsume?" Tammy questions Yona, knowing Adalinda would be the worst person to ask that to right then in her current state.

Ada takes a deep breath as she looks to the contents of the bottle, before she yanks off the hilt of her sword, leaving the cross-guard, and blade sitting in the sheath still. She popped off the pommel of the sword, and poured the last of the contents down the hole at the top. Tamaria takes a deep breath. "Guess we're not too far off then if you're already filling up your flask." She grumbles. Adalinda just shrugs her shoulders and grins. When they finally approach the closest station to the town, Adalinda lets up a victory cry of happiness. She absolutely hated vehicles... Tamaria was sitting on her slayers shoulders, and looks to Yona. "You wanna lead the way since you wanted to do the job?" The purple exceed asks with a grin. Adalinda looks to Yona as well. Her cheeks were a little pink from all her drinking, but she was seeming better and not like she was ready to throw up like she had been the whole ride. Throwing up her thumb to the other mage, she nods her head. "Lets get the party started and kick some fat mans ass!" She cheers to the other mage. Tamaria takes a deep breath. "You're fine again..." She mutters.

Yona continued watching out the window as she listened to the exceed and Ada talk back and forth. It was half usual banter and half tired travel talk, spurred on by Ada's drinking. Yona regretted not asking Ada to keep a bottle out of her hand for their job but it seemed it might pay off if she really was motion sick. Drunk was better than other options when sharing a small passenger car on a train. When Tamaria apologized for the motion sickness, Yona had given a dismissive shrug and when Ada mentioned children enjoying adventures, Yona rolled her eyes. "They are going to get themselves killed in these mountains. There's no monster man but there are plenty of wolves, wildcats, and cliffs. The weather exposure itself could be enough for some kids."

As the exceed asked how long it would take, Yona could see the station approaching. She stretched her hands out and then stood up, leering out the window pane through the fog. Before she could say anything, it was made obvious that they had arrived in Shirotsume. Yona gathered her bag for travel and offered an arm to help Ada up if she needed it. She stood cautiously behind Ada just in case as they made their way off the train and onto the platform. When Ada started to cheer 'lets get this party started and kick some fat man's ass', Yona felt a smile break out on her lips. Was she still drunk or was she just crazy?

Yona looked around but it didn't look like there were any real good places out there to camp. She looked to the town and said, "Maybe we should drop our stuff off and ask around. I bet the kids and parents might have an idea of where children were last seen. We can head out into the mountain with a better idea of the layout of the area too, maybe get a map or something." She fussed with a green curl by her right ear for a moment and caught sight of a hanging wooden sign with the words "The Finn Inn: Sale! Mages sleep 1 night free!" She tilted her head and gestured to the building, "Will that work for you two?" It was probably dank, dark, and none too classy, but a free bed was easy to just drop things in and Yona was ready to get a move on this job. If children were in danger, there was no time to be fretting over hardwood flooring or dirty window frames.WC: 982

The dragon slayer let up a bellowing laugh and shakes her heads. "Children have no fear, Yona! They practically live for danger and are adrenaline junkies till they're in a dangerous situation. At the daycare, when we get permission for field trips, the children are always misbehaving despite the adults warnings. They really are terrible when it comes to listening." She laughs as she looks to her bottle. She finished whatever didn't go into the flask, and smiles to herself. Her cheeks were a soft pink from the alcohol was only slightly taking effect on her. She stands up without an issue when Yona offered her arm. "I'm fine now! We're no longer moving!" She chuckles quietly and nods. Despite what Yona may have been thinking, Adalinda being excited for the job was her naturally. So there may have been a bit of crazy in there too.

As they were around the little village, Ada looks over to her green haired companion, and raised an eyebrow a bit to her. "I was just gonna suggest asking about." She chuckles and looks up. She looks at the building, and nods a bit. "Yeah! Sounds delightful. I'll lock our stuff up though. So no jackwad will go sniffing through our underwear. Don't need Yuudai going on a rage cause another man's nose been on my clothes. Even though I'd probably beat them to a pulp before him, but besides the point." She couldn't help but grin as she held up her hand. She was going to use her Iron Dragon Slayer abilities to help them. When they went into the inn, it was actually a bit better than what Ada and Tammy had been expecting. It was decorated traditionally for these parts of the mountains, and she smiles to the place.

"Hello! Welcome! Welcome! How may we help you?" A stout woman questions from behind the counter. Adalinda grins and goes up over to the counter. Tammy waves a little to get the womans attention. "We'd like to have a room, please? Two beds would be good. We're mages here to investigate about missing children." Tammy waves the job request paper, and nods to the woman. Her face seemed to drop as she watched the cat speak to her, then her eyes went to Adalinda and Yona. Ada made sure her shirt had her guild pin on it, and that it was visible too. The woman gives a sharp nod, and gives Adalinda the key to a room. "Off to the right, up the first flight of stairs, and to your right. Room 10." She tells the girls. "Thank you!"

Adalinda motions for Yona to come with her as she threw her bag over her shoulder. She didn't take a suitcase, only taking what little she needed, mainly clothes and small hygienic things. Tamaria filled the rest of the bag, being she was small enough to not need a suitcase for the trips. When they get into the room, it looks like it's recently been cleaned. Tamaria jumps off of Ada's shoulders, and goes to explore a bit. "Still going to lock the stuff up?""Most definitely." She says as she throws her bag between the two beds. She grabs Yona's bag as well, and puts it with her own before she put a box of iron around them both to protect them. "Make you feel comfortable?" She asks Yona as she pats the top of her box. "I think I want to start with questioning the innkeeper on this Swollen Man and the children gone missing." She says as she points back towards the door. Tamaria nods as she agreed with her slayers opinion, but she wanted to make sure Yona was okay with questioning her as well.

The green haired woman made an amused face as Ada went on and on. She mentioned something about sniffing underwear, locking her things up, and mentioned someone named Yuudai. Yona assumed it was the guy who had gotten her pregnant but rumors among the guild could also possibly be just rumors. Yona would ask her when they were a little more private, perhaps later. When they entered, the reception woman seemed strangely stern and given the state of the Inn, Yona wanted to advice her that honey caught more flies than vinegar. Then again, a free room was up for grabs and so Yona said nothing, only giving the woman a hard stare back.

It didn't look like the reception woman was a fan of Tamaria and Yona thought that the woman needed to better hold her composure in front of guests. Especially guests here to rescue the children that the stupid village people had lost to a dumb myth. Her desk had a small name tag engraved with 'Hana'. Yona made a face at Hana and muttered, "Never seen a talking cat before?" She turned and followed up the stairs behind Ada, happy to not turn around and see the reception woman's response. Yona doubted she was going to be challenged by a normal human woman, but she didn't doubt that Hana would reserve any kindness she might have possessed for someone other than Yona herself in the future.

They reached room 10 and Yona was happy to allow Ada to bar up her bag using some sort of magical iron bars. "That looks good to me, thanks," Yona chuckled a bit, glad that the reception woman definitely would not have access to her private bag and belongings. She chose now to question Ada about Yuudai, extending a curious and nosy olive branch to the woman that Yona had previously gotten in trouble with at the guild. "So Yuudai, he's your guy? Is he a mage or just a human with anger issues?"

Assuming Ada would explain the circumstances a little, Yona would reserve her other personal questions for later, maybe after the job. She had to help with those idiot children after all. They could all be dead in the woods for all she knew. "You're lucky you have me with you, Ada. That woman was giving Tammy here some dirty looks. I doubt she will be much help to us." Yona did not tell her about the dirty look she had given Hana back. "Maybe we should split up for an hour and explore the village a bit. I am certain I can get some information out of some children. It's been awhile but I know what kids respond well to," She added. Her little brother had some quirks but for an eleven year old, it seemed safe to assume most kids worked the same way. "It's the adults I don't deal very well with, honestly."WC: 1468

As the receptionist was questioned by Yona about never seeing a talking cat before, she simply blinks. When they're in the room and everything is locked up, Adalinda smiles and gives a nod to her. When Yona asked about Yuudai, Adalinda grins. She seemed rather proud of the question. "Yeah! He and I are going out. He's a werewolf/kitsune hybrid, and he's a mage in Sabertooth." She laughs a little. "Aaannnddd... He's the father of my babies." She actually blushes a little as she grins while scratching the back of her head. She felt a bit embarrassed to be walking about Yuudai like so. "He's really sweet... to at least me, and he makes alcohol for me too quite often. I usually have drinks he'd made on me. I saved it for out here to fight better with." She nods a bit.

When Yona went on about being lucky with Yona, Adalinda raises an eyebrow. "Okay? She can give dirty looks all she wants. It was probably due to the fact that Tammy was so open about the job." She shrugs her shoulders. When Yona mentioned getting information out of children, she looked at her like she had four heads. "You sure you know what kids respond to? How you were talking on the train really didn't seem like so... Not all the kids are the same, or respond the same way, or even listen the first twenty million times." She tells her and shakes her head. "You kinda sounded like one of those 'perfect' moms that I've come across at the daycare, on the train to me. 'My kid wouldn't do that! They're an angel!' 'I wouldn't let my kids do that!' blah blah blah..." Ada mimics the voices of a couple moms nasally, laughing a bit at them with how she managed to sound stuck up. She then shakes her head as she gives the other girl a thumbs up. "Not gonna stop you. We should at least meet up out front of the inn though."

"I'm actually worried about Ada talking to others... maybe I should talk to the adults while you both talk to the children and teens... especially since you're closer to their age?" Tamaria questions the two as she puts her hands on her hips. "Besides! I can change into a human form too!" The exceed was really rooting to use that.

"I'd suggest not using that till later, Tammy. But I'll talk to whomever will answer me." The dragon slayer simply shrugs her shoulders as she goes to open the door to the room. Before she got out of the room all the way, she tossed the key to Yona, and headed to the lobby of the inn. With a small smile, Adalinda leans on the front desk to look at Hana. "Hi there... I have a question..." Her voice was low as she looked a little bored, and ready to go in for a kill. "You have any information that I can go off of for this 'SwollenMan' dude? Or any information on the children?"

"Nope." Silence. Adalinda raised an eyebrow as she waits fro a response. She slightly leans forward. "There is nothing going on here..." Adalinda glares before she just pushes off the counter. She was getting off of Hana, but she wasn't going to push it, not yet. After she pushes off of the counter, she leaves the inn to go travel around a bit while putting her arms behind her head. She manages to get to the market area in Shirotsume, and cautiously walks up to a group of people. She questions them about the job after introducing herself as a mage within West Fiore Trading Company, and manages to get the area in which the children go to to search for SwollenMan. Adalinda looks over into the forest of the area everyone spoke about, and nods as she goes to see if others would give her the same information, or anything else. By the time an hour was up, Adalinda headed back to the inn and waited for Yona to show up.

She had found out that it was a narrow area of forest in which the children disappear from that's right up against the mountains. She had managed to come across a few parents whose children were lost to the rumor of the SwollenMan, and they told their children over and over to not go searching, but ended up going in the dead of night. Of course it was night... that's when all the monsters come out.

Yona observed Ada's reaction as she talked about Yuudai. She was animated, blushing and grinning, so Yona could assume it was either a very new relationship or one of the first she had been in. The woman was clearly infatuated through and through. Yona nodded gently as she listened and tried not to think about how a liquor-making werewolf made babies in a steamy romance. Yona was definitely not going to prod Ada for the details on that happening.

She stood idly by for a moment and then took the white coat off her own arm and swept it over her shoulders and arms, dressing as her job partner rose a brow in Yona's defensiveness for Tamaria. Yona was being thoughtful and protective, caring of how people treated the cat and Ada seemed only amused by her concerns. She felt somewhat annoyed by this but hid it well while slipping her coat on over her black halter top. She wore comfortable black traveling pants, some grey horse hair still evident from when she had rode Doll out to the mountains a few days prior, and black trekking boots. Normally, Yona wore all white while on a job, but today just the knee length coat and guild pin would have to do.

And then her partner started going on about how Yona knew children and if she could deal with them well. Yona's smile was forced, pinched and thin, but her eyes blazed. She glowered at Ada behind a facial expression of indifference as Ada mimicked and taunted her. Yona wanted to know what the hell she knew about talking to children and how the hell she planned to be a decent mother when she was deep down just a drunk. She breathed in and out, trying to release the tension and flashed Tamaria a look of warning, something that said 'you might want to check her before I wreck her'. Yona's responsibilities of being an older sister in a motherless household had left her quite suited for dealing with children and she perceived Ada as being a reprehensible plague sore for insinuating otherwise. "Be nice," Yona said out loud, telling herself to not make a big deal of this right now. The job was more important. Though, Ada and Tam could have heard her and take it otherwise.

She earned a thumbs up and caught the flying key sent her way and with a sigh of relief she watched Ada walk out of the room. She paused for a minute and then made every lude gesture she could think of in the direction of the closed door, where Ada had been standing. Feeling childishly gratified, Yona pocketed the key and left the room as well. She locked it behind her and headed down the stairs. Ada was there, leaning forward on the desk and talking to Hana, or trying to. Yona hurried out the back exit by moving from the stairs, to the hallway beneath them, to the back of the Finn Inn. As soon as she opened the door she saw a group of kids playing some sort of game with a ball in the alley between two small residences, maybe a few blocks away. It looked like there was about a waist high vertical tilted hoop on either wall and it was a two on three game.

Yona walked over slowly, observing the game. The children appeared to only be allowed to hit the ball with their knees, hips, elbows or shoulders. There was two girls against two boys and a girl, and the smaller team appeared to be losing a player do to a child touching the ball with their hand. Just as the young blonde, maybe twelve year old kid made her way to the edge of the alley the green haired mage stepped in and asked to play. The children looked apprehensive and so Yona offered to take the team of three on by herself. Amused by her and excited to show off in front of an adult, they began to play the game. For the better half of an hour, Yona sweat and moved in time to play with the kids. By the end of it, one of the boys, the long haired brunette spoke up and called it quits. "We beat you," He said and Yona laughed for real.

It reminded her of her younger days and she panted a little. "Yeah, I think you did." She pulled out her coin purse and gave them each a silver coin. "Your due winnings, good game." The kids begged her to stick her around and asked about the tattoo on her neck, the pin on her coat, and her green hair. They asked her where she was from, and just for fun, Yona drew out a Blade of Thorns for them to look over and pass around. She was genuine, and an avid listener and the kids were drawn to her more and more. After another half hour, Yona finally started asking questions, but not about the missing children.

She asked about the entity, what he wanted, and where he lived. She asked the kids how they knew about SwollenMan and how they knew he was real. There was some nervousness, some open debate, but in the end they all acknowledged that adults had been telling them stories of SwollenMan for as long as they could remember in order to keep them in good behavior. The little blonde girl confided without probing, offering up the information in an embarrassed way. "My twin sister went into the woods at night to meet up with some friends. Nissa hasn't come back but she told me before she left that it was an adventure. She said that a grown up was taking them out to help them find SwollenMan and prove he was real." Yona took all this information in, from the scary bedtime stories, to frightening nightmares, to the blatant rumors that were clearly impossible to be true.

Her avid listening finally gave her something to work with: there was the potential that some adults were in on this coercing children into the mountain and forests. And what child would say no to an adventure with an adult? What child would think themselves unsafe? Another child, the brunette boy chimed in, admitting that an woman that looked the same age as his mother had asked him to go on a similar trip. He said the woman had blue eyes, looked kind of old like Yona but not as pretty as she was, and added that the woman wore a big silver ring with a black rock on it. This got Yona wondering if perhaps the ring was an important detail and when the blonde girl nodded and said, "Oh yeah, Nissa had a ring like that when she left too!" Yona settled on the detail having potential significance.

Yona thanked them all and promised to play another game with them tomorrow, finally collecting her things to meet up with Ada. She was at least twenty minutes late when she found herself in front of the Finn Inn where Tamaria and Ada were waiting. "I got some decent information, how about you?"WC: 2672

Tamaria had stayed behind for a few seconda when Ada left to talk to the inn keep. She nervously rubbed the back of her head. "Sorry for her... She's... She's been helping out at the daycare in the guild from time to time. She really has been getting good with taking care of the children there..." She sighed deeply before she shook her head. She knew Adalinda talked, and acts, before thinking... like ninety percent of the time, so that would get her into a bunch of trouble often. As well as lose her friend points in others. It took people like her and Yuudai to get past that and see her for who she really was sometimes, and that she had a strange way of showing people she liked them. Tammy then quickly followed Ada, wanting to make sure her slayer kept out of too much trouble. When they walked away, Adalinda did hear Yona since her hearing was a bit better than the average persons. She scowled a little at that. Maybe she was acting a bit... not nice? She figured she'd have to try and tone herself down some.

As Yona showed up, Ada grins as she jabs her thumb towards the forest. "Yup! Got our starting area for this swollman dude." She shrugs her shoulders as she sighs a little. "Apparently the kids that went missing had already been warned to not go, then went anyways. Like I said before, they like to not listen and have no fear till after the fact." She looks towards the forest and frowns. "Also, a few kids said the ones who went had been acting a little strange before they disappeared... My guess... they were brainwashed little by little or something." She shrugs her shoulders. It was a guess. All she had going for it. She raised an eyebrow to Yona, wanting to hear her information as well. "I also think we should go to the forest now, and when night falls, wait to see if any children who don't listen again, start going to the forest to see what where they're going." She nods. It would also be a way to protect the kids from trying to go too far into the woods and getting hurt too. Or that was her plan.

Tamaria nods a little. "I heard something about them leaving just after they were sent to bed. So if we do that, we should stick close to the town to watch for movements. Or I can fly over to see for children going through the forest?" The Exceed smiles to Yona, and put her hands on her hips. "What did you find out though? And think we should get a head start to the forest now? Maybe we actually could find a clue or two now during the daylight." Adalinda gasped at that. She hadn't thought of finding clues during the day, just having a head start over the kids. She grins as Tamaria helped her own plan a bit more. Adalinda now seemed ready to get going to the forest.

She stops seeming so eager for a moment as she looks back to the inn. "I have a feeling about Hana though... She tried to tell me nothing was going on here... But clearly there is with how the parents and children seemed to talk about what's going on..."

"Think Hana might be a part of this?"

"I dunno... but we should keep an eye out for her when we go searching as well..." She nods to Tammy, looking to Yona. Teamwork. She needed to remember that. Her weakness. "What do you say?" She questions, wanting her input as well. Adalinda still wanted to run off on her own right now, but held herself back for now. She could wait a while till they ran off into the trees, but it'd be agonizing to her since she wanted to get this out of the way.

Behind her, Adalinda heard the sound of children playing, and she turned to look at the children. Her expression softened as she looked at them. Part of her was eager for her children, but she was scared at the same time. She really did hope she could be a good mom to her kids. "You're kids will be fine. With a mom and dad like you and Yuudai, they'll be well protected. Inspired even! Trust me." She says with a grin to the dragon slayer. Adalinda smiled meekly, and nods her head. All the learning she put herself whenever she had free time, should pay off. "We have a job to do, so think about protecting these kids like they're your own. We'll have it done by dawn tomorrow." Of course the Exceed was only trying to urge her slayer on to do a good job, there was no way they could get it done by dawn the next day, right? She at least didn't think so. Then again, they've never done a job with Yona before, nor knew how she did her own thing here.

Yona stood beside the cat and the mage and listened to the information collected. Apparently, they left at night and maybe were brainwashed, and best of all it sounded like Ada had figured out a general area for initial searching. That was far better than just running off into the mountains and hoping they would find something. She stood with her weight mostly on her left foot as she listened to their concerns about Hana and Yona gave a little smirk as she tried not to say 'I told you so'. It took a couple of minutes for them to remember she was even standing there it seemed. It was obvious that they had done many quests, jobs, missions and whatever on their own. She doubted that they had worked much with another person. Yona practiced her patience and used the time to formulate ideas and thoughts, drawing on Ada and Tamaria.

"I learned some interesting things as well. It appears that adults are definitely involved but usually it was an adult the children were not too familiar with. I didn't get any names. Just think of that, if an adult is leading the kids into the mountains, even now, what child would say no?" Yona let out an abrupt sigh of frustration. "Whoever is behind this is going to have to beg for mercy when I get done with them." She blinked and cleared her throat. Did she say that out loud? Well.. oops.

"Anyway, it is also possible that there are some physical signs that a person is involved with this. It might be nothing but the kids mentioned a silver ring with a black stone on an adult they had seen and on a missing girl. Keep an eye for that just in case, I think." Yona looked towards the forest and continued speaking, "I like Tam's idea. We should go into the forest, in the area you found out about. Let's look for any evidence missed by searching families, unusual tracks, articles of clothing, symbols carved into trees.." Yona chuckled a little. It was kind of silly, but it felt like this job was right out of a gruesome fairy tale book.

Yona sent her eyes up to the Finn Inn and for a moment, she thought she saw a pair of eyes looking back at her. She made a face, wondering briefly if she was crazy. "Well, I ate on the train so I am ready to just get started with searching. Near nightfall, I think Tama here should fly around the edges of the forest and watch out for children or suspicious activity. You know, keeping us informed? What do you guys think, can we go?" She was getting somewhat antsy. The idea of that sweet blonde girl's sister, Nissa, perhaps surviving and being in the forest spurred her to start. Having spent time with the children made her feel somewhat more attached to them and the job, and she hated getting personal on a job.

Speaking of personal, she thought looking at Ada while Tam quietly consoled her; Yona caught her looking at the kids playing. She hastily said, "You can join us all for a game tomorrow if we can make good progress on our job tonight." She doubted the whole thing would be done in just one night as well, however Yona refused to leave the job incomplete for more than two nights time.WC: 3245

Adalinda takes a deep breath as she nods to Yona, growling softly to herself. "Guess I'll make sure to beat stranger danger into the three of them when they're older..." She was talking to herself about her babies aloud, but that was all it was right then, talk. "We can make those responsible, beg for mercy by both our hands, okay?" A rather devilish grin had formed on her face, before Tamaria patted the other girls leg to distract her. Ada glances down, and huffs. As she hears about the physical signs, she nods a little. A ring like that would be something she needed to look out for. She then pauses.

"Did Hana have that right, Ada?" Tamaria questions Ada. The dragon slayer paled. She hadn't looked at the woman's hand before when they talked to them. And neither had Tamaria. Part of her wondered if Hana was involved in this with how she reacted. She pauses as Yona said she liked Tammy's idea. She pouts a little, but doesn't try correcting her, even though it was her idea over the exceeds. She just added onto her idea. Adalinda nods as she grins. "Of course we can go! That's why we suggested it! We wanted to make sure you were okay with it too!" Tamaria's laugh was pleasant as she climbs up Adalinda to rest on her friends shoulder.

As Yona offered to let Adalinda join her and the kids tomorrow for a game, the black haired woman looks over to the green haired one in shock. That wasn't something she expected to hear from her. Or anyone besides maybe Yuudai really. A grin slowly forms on her face as she nods. "Thanks. Lets get it done quickly then." She holds her hand out to fist bump the other girl. Tamaria cheered on her companions shoulders and held out her paw a bit too. Regardless if Yona returned the fist bump, Ada and Tammy went off to the forest to start searching for clues with Yona, showing her the exact area that she was told about. Adalinda was sniffing about for anything that might be of use in her opinion with her enhanced senses from her dragon slayer abilities.

When night came upon them, Tamaria had gone into the village to fly above them to see what was going on. Adalinda had gone in a tree to hide from prying eyes. She didn't want to spook anyone who wasn't Yona or Tamaria. She wanted to have the element of surprise on whomever came about. During her search earlier with Yona, Ada had found a recently used trail and a couple of small markers that would have been nothing to normal people if they didn't have enhanced sense of smell. She smelt few someone's scents on a rock, and a path that seemed like it was recently used going into the forest. She wanted to be sure that this was the path the so called followers of the SwollenMan use to drag their latest victims with them, so she had told Yona that she was going to stick near it if she wanted to stick nearby as well.

Soon Tamaria came flying back to her friend, and landed on the branch next to her. "Some people are sneaking out the windows of their homes..." The cat whispers to the other. Adalinda smirks as she rubs the cats head as her blue eyes focused on the village, waiting for her to see some sort of light or indication that there was people coming this way.

She was getting impatient, but she needed to wait, the slayer knew that. She didn't want to screw this up. Children were at stake here. Then she saw them, a hooded adult-like figure, and what looked like four children behind them going on the path Ada had found. Ada's heart sank seeing that scene. She didn't want to believe that. She grits her teeth as she quietly watched for now, wondering what they were doing exactly. She was quietly able to make her way through the tree limbs. The rock that she had seen earlier, the hooded figure had reached a hand out and put their hand on it, bearing a silver ring with a black rock on it. "Bingo..." Whispered the dragon slayer as she grinned devilishly again. The hunt was on for her now. She wanted to follow, but this person could also be used to help lead them to the center of all this.

When Yona had been told about the ring and a woman about the same age as his mother, asking the young boy if he wanted to join up, Yona hadn't made any connection to the brash woman named Hana. Could Hana have been connected, keeping watch on mages by this free night deal at the Finn Inn? Or was Hana merely a grouchy business woman who was moderately rude to cats? She didn't want to jump to conclusions and didn't have time to seek out the information needed to convince her Hana was involved after all. She was glad that Ada had taken her offer and taken it well, the pep coming back to her eyes and face. The fist bump was a little much but with both Ada and Tamaria waiting, and after quickly making sure nobody was looking, the green haired woman gave in and bumped her knuckles against theirs.

She couldn't help but smile about it, thinking back even now. They had explored the area and found markers, hidden very well thanks to Ada's nose. Tamaria had soared off into the sky and she saw the shadow of the cat returning against the brightness of the moon in the sky. Yona had let Adalinda go up into the trees and had continued over the path they had discovered in the dark. Yona didn't want to go too far away, but she stayed off the main path in an effort to not be identified on sight. Her feet moved gracefully over and around rocks, stumps, and roots in such a way that people would have wondered if they were even touching the ground. Yona had plenty of practice in the Mountain Village growing up and knew enough about mountain travel to feel safe here. Since Ada had such a fine nose, Yona thought nothing of moving a bit farther to check ahead. The last thing she wanted was a sudden ambush with kids involved. If Yona even saw a glimpse of a little blonde girl or any one of the kids she had played with, whatever adult was with them was going to wish they weren't born.

That was when she heard the snap of twigs underfoot, but there was no way that they were under her feet. Whoever the sound belonged to was small or very light. Yona moved into a crouch, touching the ground with her left hand to sense how many of them there were, and then felt a hard slam on her back as a body hit her and knocked her flat. In a few seconds, there were more of them, grabbing her, scratching and pulling at her clothing. She looked up and in the light she could see the dirty faces of four children. Like she was going to hit a child!? Yona tried to get up, and said, "Hey, hey calm down, calm down. I am here to help." But the kids kept wrestling her as if they were feral. One of them grabbed her hair and pulled so hard that she had to grit her teeth. She thought they looked ragged, in their torn clothing with their mangled hair. She could hardly tell which were boys or girls. "I have food, are you hungry?" For a moment, the attacks paused and she was finally allowed to get up. "Shh, shh," She whispered, lifting a hand to assuage them.Where had these kids come from? Had they gotten lost out here? Had they escaped somehow? Yona quickly pulled out a couple of granola bars and an apple from her pockets. Before she could pass them out, grabby greedy hands lunged and snatched them from her. She gave pause as the children tore into the food and then let out a breath when one of them finally spoke, face smeared with the juice of the apple. "I am sorry. We have been lose for so long out here." "How long? What happened?" Yona asked gently, reaching to touch the arm of the child. It was a girl with long black hair and light colored eyes. "What's your name dear?" "I'm Beth Ann Marie. And its been... two nights I think. There was a monster without a face! It was the... SwollenMan!" Yona tried to soothe the girl and frowned. What had been done to these kids? A man without a face? They had to be hallucinating, but who would take a bunch of kids, drug them up, and leave them in the woods? Yona patted the girl by the arm. "Well Beth Ann Marie, you are doing a good job helping the others. I need you all to be very quiet. Can you do that?" The children, still half involved in eating, nodded their heads somewhat subdued.

"I am going to walk you close to a path okay. My name is Yona and I am a mage from the West Fiore Trading Company, here to help. Don't be afraid of me." Beth Ann Marie lifted her chin and nodded once, "I'm not scared. Are you taking us home Miss Yona?" Yona paused and then shook her green head. This was her and Ada's shot at rescuing far more than four children and she didn't want to mess it up. The four here seemed resilient and were only an hour or two walk from town. They made it this far after all. "When we get close to the path we are going to stay very quiet and wait for the bad people to pass by. No matter what you must not make a sound! Do you understand?" The children nodded again, their big eyes desperately looking at Yona as if she were their mother. "Once they are gone, you are all going to follow the path back to town, it's very easy and only an hour or two. You will be safe there okay?" The kids looked at each other and Beth Ann spoke up once more. "What will you do Miss Yona?" The plant mage grinned, and reached out again to smooth out the girl's hair from her eyes. "I am a strong mage. My friend and I are going to follow the bad guys and arrest them! We are going to beat up all of the monsters to keep you safe." It might have amused some in the guild to see this, as this was the patient side of Yona usually kept hidden.

Some of the children wiggled, jumping in excitement and Yona pulled out a container of water. "Why don't you all take turns drinking some water and then we are going to go up closer to the path okay? My friend might be coming by but we still need to be quiet until we know it's safe okay?" Yona was sure that the children had seen enough that they would be quiet. They took sips of water and Yona led them back the way she had come, and paused about 40m away from the tree where she knew Ada had been last. The woman with her nose and Tamaria ought to be able to find them with ease, but Yona hadn't been here keeping watch to know of any updates. It was better to play it safe and just stop here for a moment. She lifted a hand and she and the children crouched down in the plant life and waited. If she saw Ada or caught her eye, Yona would gesture for her to approach with caution.

The grin on Adalinda's face grew wider as Yona had gave the fist bump back to them, and they quickly went on their way to the forest. In the tree, Adalidna had caused herself to be a little bored since she was having to stay relatively silent and still till she saw the group coming. She smelled Yona. She barely could smell the children, but she had begun to panic when she did finally notice the smell. At first she didn't know that it was the children, but she had moved enough from her original spot, that she was able to see the other children with her. She takes a deep breath and looks over to where the group she spotted before was walking, and motions for Tammy to quietly go tell Yona what was going on.

Ada continues to walk along the tree for a bit as Tammy quickly goes across the tree, and cautiously glides down to the ground near Yona. She saw the children, but knew she couldn't get herself side tracked, so in a soft voice, she said; "There's a group up ahead! Four children, and an adult with the ring on their hand." Tammy's eyes go to the children near her now, and points as she looks up to the other mage again. "Who are... they?" She questions and takes a step back to be against the tree. Tamaria peeks her head over the bush that was near them, and points to the direction that the group she spoke about went. "You might of spotted the group on your way here." She points to the group of five not too terribly far from where they were staying. The hooded figure had turned around to make sure that the children were with them, and Tammy glares on a bit. "I think it's a female..." The cat mumbles to herself aloud.

The dragon slayer was still in the trees, and slowly sneaking up on the group ahead of her. She was feeling cautious now. Something didn't seem right. The forest was quiet. Way too quiet for even night. Not even any crickets made a noise. She frowns as she scans the grounds around them. It didn't feel right to the iron dragon slayer. Despite her urges to not get down, Adalinda did so anyways very quietly. She was ready to follow quietly on foot, but instead, she was met with a sword right next to her face that was now half buried in the tree. The girl seemed rather clam looking down at the metal before her. "Thanks for the snack." She says aloud as she takes a big bite out of the sword. The crunch from her breaking the metal alerted the hooded person and the children that were ahead of them. The person who was holding holding Adalinda's snack had their mouth opened rather wide, completely not expecting this to happen to them. Ada's bright blue eyes goes right to the person, and she grins to this person. "Who are you...?" The person was a teenager, and Ada noticed him in the town earlier as she was asking questions. He hadn't wanted to talked to her though, seeming like he had been cautious of outsiders.

"I'm a believer... and you're trying to stop SwollenMan... I can't let you do that." He mutters. Adalinda nods slowly as she looks to him. "I see..." The guy quickly yanks back his sword out of the tree to go and attack her again. She quickly grabs the guys arm and chucks him over her shoulder, which caused him to cough up blood from the force of it. Adalinda grins as she quickly shakes her hand while spikes come out. She then brings her hand down on the guys face, and she snickers softly. "Sorry bud... No..." She mutters and looks back. She saw that the hooded person and children were running off. She let up a low growl and looks back to Yona. Then she saw the children with her partner. She grits her teeth for a moment before she hid her hand behind her back and quickly goes over to them. "Sorry if I scared you guys!" She says to the kids with a soft smile, seeming a bit ashamed to them for being violent in front of them, and glances to Tammy. Tamaria takes a deep breath and nods. "I'll take them back. You two be careful and go after the other person." She says and looks to see if the kids would follow her.

Yona remained crouched and quickly withdrew her hand once she had seen Ada's motion in the trees. She squinted and saw a small shape climbing through and then down the tree: Tamaria. Yona wasn't afraid and rested a protective hand on the black haired Beth Ann Marie. The other children simply followed her lead and stayed quiet. Tammy had whispered the news about the group traveling by, four children and possibly a ringed female adult. Yona had seen the shadows on the path from a distance earlier, but she and the children had remained out of sight in the bushes and shrubberies for protection. When Tammy pointed out the children and asked about them, Yona placed her hand from shoulder to the top of Beth Ann Marie's head.

"Some lost children. I don't know if they escaped or if they were never really captured but we can't rule out the possibility of their being more. Giving them food seemed key to getting them to calm down," She pointed out the little scratches on her arm and gave Tamaria a look. "Anyway, this is Beth Ann Marie. The brave leader of this group. I think that--" Yona's voice was cut off as Beth Ann and the other children let out simultaneous gasps, some of them backstepping. The plant mage looked up in time to see Ada's spiked hand come smashing down onto something. She frowned, wondering if they were in more danger, as the loud sound of crunching and metal eating was likely to tell anyone in the forest where they were. Ada apologized, hiding her hand and before Yona could speak Beth Ann stepped forward.

"We're not afraid of you!" She grabbed Tamaria by the paw and lifted it into the air, "We have a magic fighting cat!" Yona covered her mouth quickly, trying not to laugh. She hadn't noticed the entire time that the children had been eyeing Tam or that Beth Ann Marie had been slowly positioning herself close enough to inspect or pet Tammy. "She's my friend," Yona explained, "The cat is Tammy, don't worry they are all here to help." Beth Ann seemed to relax and grin sheepishly. She held Tammy's paw as long as the cat let her and when Tammy suggested that she take the children home, her light eyes lit up. Beth Ann looked to Yona. "Oh can we, can we go home with Tammy?" The green haired woman nodded, "I think that's a great idea. Me and my friend will go on ahead to beat the bad guys up."

She bent to one knee and looked the little girl in the eyes. "But you have to make sure that you and Tammy protect each other and everyone in your group." Beth Ann nodded eagerly, pulling on Tammy's paw. "Okay okay, Miss Yona! Come on Tammy, we have to go!" Yona would stand back up and cross to stand by Adalinda. She kept her volume low and said, "They ran off, the group. I guess it means we are on the right trail. You can be certain that there are more of those... well whoever you fought. Who was it?" Yona looked towards the path and started to walk back into the trees, in order to follow the path from a shadier darker and more hidden place. If they were going to play a game like this, the stealthy and those with wit would be the ones to come out on top. Seeing how Ada had handled the first foe lent her Yona's respect. She might not have been as quiet as Yona liked, but she was very efficient.

Regardless to how Ada moved, if by tree above or if near to Yona, Yona expected that they would work and move together through the roughage instead of the path. It helped that it was to Yona's advantage, given her magic. She saw a tiny flicker of white light, almost like a lacrima flashlight or one of those glow bracelets ahead behind a tree. Yona pointed at the light, silently directing Ada's attention to it if she had not already seen it. At the worse, it was a trap made for them, but it could also be a single enemy, or even a lost child. Yona crouched low suddenly, touching the ground with the palm of her left hand. She could sense the living bodies in the area and to her dismay, though she had seen a light ahead, Yona could sense five living bodies closing in around them as if they had trained for this sort of ambush. Yona lifted her hand and pointed in each of the five directions surrounding them and then showed Ada her hand, five fingers out to imply five incoming bodies.WC: 5271HP: 290/300MP: 300/300

Tammy had smiled to the children when Yona told her a little about them, and whom the leader of their little ragtag group had been. When the children gasped, Tammy takes a deep breath as she figured out, without looking, what happened. Ada did things without fully thinking though. When Beth Ann had cried out at Adalinda, and grabbed Tammy's paw, Ada couldn't help but smile wider. She couldn't hide her laugh like Yona was. Tammy was giggling too. Of course the two liked the spunk of the child. "Well... that's good you're not afraid of me. But she doesn't fight." She muses happily. As Yona introduced her as her friend, Ada gave the children a salute by placing two fingers to her forehead before removing them. "I'm sorry again for scaring you guys... I was taking out a bad guy cause he was trying to hurt me, and I didn't want him to hurt you guys too." She tells them before Tammy says she'll take the children back. Ada grins as well as she nods to the children, then looked at Tammy. "You make sure they get home safely." She let Yona talk to the children before she grins to the eager children who want to go with Tammy. Tammy nods to Ada before she starts to hold the children's hands, and had them hold hands together to walk them home together, keeping to the shadows in case others would come and harm them.

Adalinda glances over to Yona quietly as she went to stand next to her, and nods slowly. "Yeah... The guy who just attacked me, literally said he was a believer and wasn't going to let me stop SwollenMan. It was creepy." She tells her before they started walking off. "I still have their scent. It's fresh." She whispers to Yona as she motions with her hand the direction the scent was going. When they saw the light, Ada growls lowly as she glances around. Her nose was picking up the other five people around them. When Yona dropped to the ground, Adalinda slowly crouched next to her. She looked over to the other as she pointed where the bodies were, and nods as she points to her nose, motioning that she smelled them each. Each moment they sat there silently talking, they seemed to get closer. She looked to her hand that had the spiked knuckles on them, and grins quietly to herself. Of course she felt this was going to be fun for her.

She motions to Yona to go after three of them, while she went after the remaining two, before she quickly glances to the side of the one closest to her. "Iron arrows?" She snickers to herself before she quickly darts after the person closest to her. She burst through the bush that separated them before she grabbed the arrow and literally crashed into them. They tumbled into the ground and Ada grins as she looks down to the guy dressed like the other one she just beat the crap out of not too long ago. She didn't expect to have a sword stabbed in her side the next moment, and raised an eyebrow to the guy. "Apparently you don't understand me right now..." She leans her face down to be uncomfortably close to the other guy. "Iron's my favorite meal." She reaches her hand down and yanked the sword out of her side, kind of glad that it didn't hit anything important though. "Now... tell me something about SwollenMan, hm?"

The believer below her was cackling quietly as she stared down at him. He was pretty loud himself, and Adalinda sighs a bit as he wouldn't shut up. "You're trying to stop SwollenMan! I can' let you do that! I'm a believer!" He kept on repeating before Adalinda quickly slammed her spiked fist into his face. She didn't have time to deal with people like that. She then quickly darted after the other person, whom was a female, and dodged her staff. "Sorry, love! No time to play!" She wasn't caring about being quiet anymore as the one guy she went after seemed to have alerted the whole forest of her presence. The second believer growls as she tried to jab at Ada, but she jumped back and out of her way again. Ada let her spikes go away before she put her hands over one another with the palms touching, and seemed to grip something before yanking out a three sided sword that was spiraled in a nasty way. Adalinda grins a little before she slightly parried with the girl before she was able to quickly bring the sword down and caught the girls leg to knock her over. She seemed to be repeating the same three phrases as the other two had been, and it simply annoyed Ada to no end. "Shut uuuup!" She cries before she silenced the believer before she got back up again to attack her.

Yona watched Adalinda, slowly nodding as she gleaned the information from Ada's visual cues. The woman smelled them and would take down two on her own it seemed. Yona was actually glad to take out the other three, finding the need to want to show off a bit while Ada went about eating swords and arrows with ease. She wanted Adalinda to notice and acknowledge that she was powerful in her own right as well, though her magic hadn't needed to come up yet. She heard Ada chuckle about iron arrows and made a mental note to be wary of cover from archers.

To Yona's advantage, she sensed no magic besides her own and Ada's in the nearby vicinity. Those attacking were not mages and they were certainly not undead. It was time to pull out an old trick, she smiled to herself. Yona used to use the trick in her travel days and younger years, able to force anyone who was not a mage to do as she wished, to fight, to run, and even to give up secrets to the green haired woman. Now seemed like a good time to reserve her spells in favor of such an ability. Yona stood up and called out, targeting the three that she felt, she knew the exact location of them and since they were no longer hiding, well that made all of this easier. Yona dashed towards the one carrying a light, a teenage male. Yona stopped right before him and felt an arrow zing by her left arm, a close call.

With the young man in sight, it was obvious he carried a lantern in one hand and a basic rapier with the other. Yona waited for him to make the first move, trying to seem clumsy or misguided. "She's by me!" The man called out, as it was also clear that he was not the one who was supposed to do the fighting, he was their guiding light. The rush of feet came close, closer, and Yona made her move then. She moved forward like she was going to attack the light-holder and he stabbed forward with his rapier. Yona sidestepped it, standing right besides him now, and grabbed his arm. She disarmed him by twisting his arm behind his back and continuing to twist it until he cried out loudly in pain. "I'm a believer! I won't let you get to him!"

Yona said nothing until she saw the other two come forward in the light, one with a simple crossbow and the other with a longbow at hand. Ranged and ambush fighters, she thought to herself. Yona's green eyes flashed as she held the whimpering believer. "You can't stop us! You can't stop SwollenMan!" Shouted the nearby believers: two women who looked like middle aged twins with brown hair. "That's okay," Yona said, easing her seductive tone into play. "You don't really want to protect SwollenMan." Yona waited and the two women stopped in their tracks. They looked confused and looked back at her with frowns. Yona continued, trying harder this time, "You will stay quiet, you will not tell anyone about me and my friend here." The two women nodded but the male writhed harder in Yona's grip. She grabbed him with both hands and put a foot behind his knee, forcing him down to the ground in a basic but powerful restraint.

"I believe! I won't let you stop SwollenMan!" The male shouted again, looking up sideways at the twins, "Don't listen to her!" The plant mage's voice was much stronger, aided by a lineage she hardly knew of or understood. Once told by an succubus, the tone of voice she used was borderline mind-control. With practice, Yona had discovered the claim was true and she used it now, putting all the practice into good use. "All three of you will stop helping SwollenMan and drop your weapons. You will tell me where he is and who is protecting him," She made eye contact forcefully with the man she was holding down, "You will tell me where the children are. And then you will all go to town and turn yourself in to the local authorities without a struggle." It only took seconds for her words to take effect: weapons fell to the forest floor and even the man stopped fighting Yona.

"A half mile down the path there is a cave, that's where the children are kept in cages. The cultists take care of them until it is time for feeding," The male offered in an uncomfortable voice. "SwollenMan is a great entity with great powers and the ability to make all cower before him. The cultists and the believers protect him and feed him to protect the village from his savage appetite." Yona paused and continued holding the man where he was. The twins seemed to be completely compliant but part of her still wondered if the male would follow her commands or shake off her power. Yona could hear Ada shouting 'Shut up' and turned her head, "Hey Ada, anything else you want to know before these believers turn themselves into the town?"WC: 5271+862= 6133HP: 290/300MP: 300/300

Adalinda had glanced out of the corner of her eye while she fought the second believer to see what Yona was doing. She couldn't help but snort at the nonsense the believer was spouting at her companion for this. Tamaria had come back from bringing the children home was up in the trees, keeping out of the way to not get hurt by any of these maniacs. Tamaria watched as Yona seemed to use her voice to seduce the other two believers, and snickers as they seemed to comply with her. Ada noticed it too. A grin was on her face before she knocked out the woman she was fighting. "Protect the village my ass..." She mutters to herself as she looks over to Yona when she asks anything else she wants to know, and simply shakes her head. "Nope! All we really need is the place!" She chuckles as she walks over to the group. She looks down to the three. A smirk was on her face as she glances back up to Yona. "How bout send them on their way? And make sure our lovely ladies keep an eye on the man here. Seems like he's a little wild." She snorts.

She looks over to the path again and takes a deep breath. "Lets go on and get this guy knocked out and this job done and over with. I'm tired of these people, and being in this forest a bit." She grumbles and starts storming up the path. She sniffs a bit, letting her nose take her through the path that they needed to go on, and grumbling about this job getting annoying to her, but she made no move to jump ship. The scent of the person with the children started to get stronger to Adalinda, and she pauses a bit while holding her hand out. "There's a bunch of people up ahead..." She mumbles to her before she ducked low. She still had her sword out and was holding it in her grasp. The slayer blinked a bit as she eyed in front of her, searching for signs of anybody nearby. Up ahead she had sensed a few magic users, and points that way for Yona before she starts to make her way that way, being quiet as she could while walking slowly. After walking around a boulder, they spy the group of five walking on the path, and Ada glares at them as she motions towards the kids while she stands up. "Oye!" She shouts before she lets up a whistle to get the adults attention.

The cloaked adult with the group had gasped and turned around for a brief moment before they opened their hand and materialized a weapon. Ada snickers. They were up her alley with being a weapons user. The cloaked adult quickly is charging at Adalinda, their hood falling back to reveal that it was Hana from the inn. Adalinda honestly didn't look surprised as she quickly clashes blades with the woman and quickly brought her leg up to smack her chin with her knee. "Sorry sweetie! I don't take too kindly to being attacked!" She mutters before she quickly twist around her and elbows the girls back rather hard, hitting just right to stun her body for a moment. Adalinda snickers for a moment, till she noticed the children were sobbing. "You guys came to help us, right?" One of them questioned. Adalinda nods before the woman quickly recovered and was back at attacking Ada for being there. "Bitch! Leave us alone! We're doing a sacred ritual!" She hisses at her. Adalinda just grinned as her skin slowly started to shift from her pale skin tone, to literal grey scales upon her body. The woman came at her again and went to strike at her head, but the sword just banged against it mainly. "That was a small doozy..." The slayer snorts before she grabbed the woman's cloak and brought her close, smashing her head against the others. The force was strong enough to knock the woman out unconscious and see stars. "Have fun sleeping." Adalinda mutters as she drops her there.

"That woman was telling us we were going to be eaten by the Swollen Man! And that he's fat because he eats people!" A kid cried out in general, Adalinda whirled around and frowns to the children before she goes over to them. She hadn't gotten rid of her silver scales. They had started to seem slightly scared of her, and she shook her head. "It's okay, we're mages from the West Fiore Trading Company. I'm Adalinda, and that's Yona, and that little purple flying cat that just landed near Yona, is Tamaria. We're going to stop this Swollen Man... okay? He won't hurt you, or anyone else again after we're done with them, alright? So chin up! Believe in us." She smiles sweetly, despite the greyed color of the scales that covered her body. She didn't even need to look back for her to know where Tammy landed. Tamaria crossed her arms over her chest, and looks up to Yona. "Your magic seemed pretty cool." The exceed said with a giggle to her.

Yona smiled, feeling proud as Ada seemed to be impressed with her magic. Yona wanted to show that she was tactical and magically talented and she had done it. She turned to the ladies and said, "Ladies, do me a favor and take him back with you." She turned to the man and pulled out some rope from the man's own pocket. "Handy," She commended tying his wrists behind his back and then rapped him hard as she could with her fist on the back of his head. The women collected the unconscious man and started to carry him with some difficulty. Yona was glad the other two had to suffer through carrying that guy, for being so involved in this kidnapping scheme, she even wished worse would befall them. With that, the three adults made their way away from Yona and Adalinda and appeared to be heading back to town. Job well done, Yona thought to herself.

When Adalinda took to the path and began storming up it once more, Yona gave a shrug. At this point stealth had seemed unnecessary and perhaps taking the path up to the cave they had mentioned might not be a bad idea after all. In the light of the moon, Yona followed along the path, the sounds of crickets and bugs humming around them. She even caught sight of a few fireflies glowing in the tall grasses and felt a sense of happiness returning to her. The path had been a good idea, giving her a moment to refocus away from the insanity and the anger she felt by those who were doing this. She was just as angry to think the village people had a few traitors in on it. She didn't consider what they were doing too difficult so far and likely before Yona and Adalinda had come along, plenty of people could have at least tried. By the description of feeding, Yona was worried that many children were permanently lost now.

The plant mage had noticed Adalinda's pointing and ducked behind a nearby tree for cover. From behind the boulder, Adalinda seemed to be less concerned with hiding, jumping out and whistling. There were five children and an adult ahead of them. As Adalinda reassured the children and began to fight with a hooded cultist, Yona rushed around the backside and motioned for the children. Yona gathered them to the side, shaking and whimpering. "I knew that woman was a crazy one," Yona commented as she watched Adalinda reveal and then knock out Hana from the inn. When Adalinda finished and confirmed their identities to the children, Yona relaxed. The children seemed to take it in with good confidence now. They had been clearly terrified, but on the plus side, when it seemed help had arrived, the children were quick to adapt to the development. Yona looked over at Adalinda and then from their point, higher up on the path, she looked down with bright green eyes. There was a cave down there just as promised with plenty more cultists and children.

Yona looked at the children and then at Adalinda, about to speak when Tamaria interrupted with praise. Yona was always appreciate of praise. She lifted her chin and nodded, "Thanks, Tam. To tell the truth, I haven't used any of my magic yet. That was just a cool trick I can do, thanks to my heritage. Wait until you see my plants!" She stepped towards Adalinda and whispered, "We can't take the kids with us, but it might be too close to just let them go on their own. They could stay and hide, what do you think they should do?" Yona looked down at the cave feeling antsy, "I'm just.. I'm just going to go down ahead, see what I can see and hear, and come back. It'll help us better prepare for whoever is inside of there." Without confirming or waiting for permission, Yona set off this time on her own, leaving Adalinda and Tamaria with the children and the conundrum of what to do with them.

Yona had darted into the forest, climbing into the trees, and leaping like a squirrel from branch to branch, easily making a quiet intrusion on the cave at the bottom of the hill. Once closer, Yona climbed down and touched the ground with her hand. She could sense plenty this way: five heavier forms pressing on the ground meant at least five adults were present, there were two large four footed creatures as well, and Yona frowned at that, and then four small presences separated evenly. So there were likely cages of some sort in there as well. Yona crept a tiny bit closer and considered to herself, what kind of half wit mage needed a cage to restrain a child? She had a thoughtful idea and placed her hands together, then she jogged lightly, around the cave area, setting up an underground mine attack. As soon as anything moved more than a couple steps, they would be hit with powerful exploding seed pods- disorienting and painful. She glanced back up the hill, noting that she had said she would return but now she did not plan to.

Sudden explosions went off all around the cave, the four legged creatures which Yona had sensed had triggered her spell and were racing back to the cave itself, bludgeoned from every side. With such a loud sound, all five of the hidden cultists emerged. By the time they got there, the two predator cats had fallen to their side and faded from existence. Summons, Yona thought, they have summoners with them. The cultists looked nervously at each other, clearly arguing as Yona hid behind the cave and listened in. She heard something about an ambush attack and placed a hand over her chuckling lips. They thought that single spell was an entire ambush attack? Yona knew Ada had to be on her way by now and those mages hadn't seen anything yet.WC: 6133+1003=7136HP: 290/300MP: 280/300

The dragon slayer hadn't minded Yona getting the kids out of the way. Honestly? She was glad for it. She didn't want them being hurt. As the children accepted her words and seemed to cheer up, Ada grinned wider to them. Hearing Yona say she hadn't used her magic yet, made Ada raise an eyebrow to her and smirk. "Oh really?" She snickers, till she hears plants, in which she groans a bit. Plants. Of course. The dragon slayer listened to Yona as she talked about the kids not being able to go with them, she looks around a moment. Tammy had put her hands on her hips. "I can stay with them.""Yeah, take them a distance away and have them hide there to wait for us with Tammy." Ada made sure her voice was loud enough for the kids to hear the plan as well. The black haired girl nods to Yona as she says she was gonna go on ahead and see what was there, though the slayer could slightly hear. She looked to where the cave was, and then motions the children to follow her and Tammy. Adalinda gets the kids a decent distance away from the cave, enough that she could at least hear and see the general area, and motions for the kids to be quiet as she goes on after Yona. Tammy had kept close to the children to assure them that they'd be fine and that Ada and Yona would get the Swollenman and that they could go back to their parents soon.

Ada easily catches up to Yona as she caught wind of her scent and was right behind the plant mage. Her nose sniffed the other things ahead, and she didn't know what exactly they could be. But she did hear children growling and crying a bit. Ada watches, from a short distance, what Yona was up to, and puts her hands on her hips a bit as she looks around the area. She was confused a bit at what the mage was doing, but was still staying silent while she observed her. The explosions made her eyes grow wide though, as she watched from her spot. She was rather impressed. She decided that she didn't want to be hiding anymore, and steps out from behind the bush she had been hiding behind. She shakes her shoulder as she holds onto her sword still, and walks forward. "Hello." She says with a grin. The cultists turn their attention to Ada, and she grins. One of them takes a step forward and he, and two others near him, got caught by the pod-seed mines. Adalinda blinks at the sudden explosion, and the other two seem to be just as confused and hold their hands up to cast something at her. "Hey, Yona!" The mage cries with a grin. "I wanna say there's maybe four more believer creeps just south of you." She calls out, knowing Yona would most likely hear her as she said it rather loud.

A grin was on her face as she barely had taken a step forward, and the other two cultists had taken a step back, and thankfully she didn't have to touch them as one stepped on another pod-seed mine, which set off a small reaction of them, and they got the second one. "Well... that was rather boring..." She mutters aloud. She then looks down at the ground and takes a deep breath. "Would you also be a dear and remove the mines so my hide isn't flying up in the air?" The dragon slayer didn't fear herself being hurt too badly, not with her scales upon her body. She twitches her lips as she holds her sword in her hand and takes a deep breath. She listens in to the cave for the children that were in there. "Hey kids!" She calls out. "Are you guys okay? I'm here to help you... along with a friend of mine. Stay where you are if you're able to move. It'll take me a moment to get over there..." She looks behind her as she hears something. "Yona... hurry up back there and come quickly. Kids, really stay put and keep an eye out. Scream if someone other than me, or a green haired woman comes up to you." She had hoped the kids would recognized her voice when she would return, but this scent was driving her crazy. She started to go into the forest again, holding up her sword as she was prepared for something to come out and attack her.

Yona watched from behind the cave, being discreet as Adalinda headed towards the mines. "Please, don't actually step on those," She murmured to herself. When Ada warned her of more oncoming believers south of her, she touched the ground. Sure enough Ada had sniffed out what Yona had been to busy to bother sensing for: four more bodies moving towards her from behind the cave. They could be moving back to the cave for many reasons but it was possible that they heard the explosions and came to investigate the cause. Yona heard a series of explosions once more and then a shout for her to remove the mines. Yona released the spell early and then started onward away from the cave to find the four other believers. She could hear Ada talking to the kids and so brought her focus away from the cave, it sounded safe enough now.

Yona set herself up behind a thick pine tree, using the needles to shade her from view. Three fighters emerged all wielding swords it seemed, stepping around, looking carefully through the trees as they progressed in the direction of the cave. Yona stared directly at the largest of the three, a big brunette woman who towered over the other two. She was obviously an experienced adult fighter while the other two appeared to be little more than young men still in training. She stared and watched, focusing until her spell was enacted, actually being able to enter the mind of the female fighter and skew her visuals. Instead of friends beside her, she now saw her greatest enemies, threats to SwollenMan and threats to her. She went after the other two with her blade, catching them off guard. She attacked backhandedly and slammed her hilt into the head of one of the boys. He fell unconscious. She attacked the other quickly as he began to run. The female stabbed her blade through his leg, and then hacked at it a second time, removing it completely. This nullified two of the four believers- wait, she thought suddenly realizing that she had only seen three. A swift hit to her shoulder and another to her head made Yona fall upon her knees, dazed. An older man stood there with his staff ready to swing again and Yona had to roll quickly to avoid the strike. She grabbed his staff and pulled, flipping the man head over heels onto his back.

"Let's see how you like it," Yona retorted hitting him in the head with his own staff. He fell to the ground motionless and whether dead of just blacked out, Yona didn't care enough for his well being to check. She rubbed her head and made a face just as the female came into view. Yona's spell was no longer in her control and so until it wore off, it was just unfortunate that Yona also appeared as an enemy. Yona fought with the woman, using the staff until the fighter cut it in twain. She lifted her hand and three bamboo shoots sprang from the ground and stabbed through the woman's legs. She dropped her weapon and Yona picked it up. The bamboo would do well to hold her for a moment while Yona checked the pockets of the old man. She found some rope and bound the woman's wrists and arms up behind her back. Then with the sword she cut down the bamboo and dragged the fighter to a tree, tying her off to be collected later on. "I won't let you hurt SwollenMan!" The female shouted, and Yona rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah you're a believer."

The plant mage made her way back to the cave, dropping off the swords she had collected. The children were inside. It took plenty of reassurances and all the rest of her food to get the lost children to come out of their cages even after Yona figured out how to unlock them. She touched the ground and gave the children directions to locate the hidden Tamaria and the other children. She sensed no other bodies in the area and so the children ran away from the cave in haste to be rejoined with the other children and their families. Yona looked around and checked the ground. It appeared that Adalinda had ditched her, going after the big SwollenMan herself. She felt jealous and annoyed, "Oh come on, I wanted to kill him!" She bemoaned as she set off at a light jog, trying to catch up to wherever Ada had gone, her head still throbbing.

Ada meanwhile would find herself in the forest, following her nose until a thick fog rolled in around her. As if from nowhere and covering a 30m radius, the fog would make it hard to see and harder, though not impossible to smell as well.WC: 7136+809= 7945HP: 230/300MP: 230/300

The dragon slayer barely heard the other mage when she went after the remaining four believers, but she believed knew she could handle it on her own. She kept on going forward, following the strange scent she smelt till the fog came around her. She hesitates for a second before she keeps edging forward slowly. She focused on the ground, making sure she wouldn't step on anything that could be a strap, and continued to follow her nose. It didn't take her long to hear Yona coming up on her, in which she grabbed the arm of as she seemed to start running past her. "Shh..." She mutters as she utilizes her other senses besides her sight. "There's someone nearby... and they smell gross..." She grumbles. Ada actually didn't want to go after them, but she knew they had to. Glancing to her partner, she raised an eyebrow, till a chill went down her spine and her eyes grew wide. Barely through the fog, Ada gripped Yona's arm and she stared off after the outline of a being whom was suddenly there.

"Hey... Do that bomb in the ground thing again..." She mutters as she heard her voice shaking. The figure was about 15 or so meters away from them, and she doubted that Yona could even see him all that well through all this fog. Ada forced herself to let go of Yona and gripped her sword better with both hands. "Keep your wits about you..." She mutters before she freezes once more. The scent was suddenly behind them. Her face paled as her bright blue eyes were wide. She lets up a snarl and quickly spins herself, and her sword, around to attack the scent. What she came face to face with, was a group of black tentacles. She let up a shriek and literally hacked these monstrosities. "What is with this?! Tentacle hentai?!" She shrieked as she used her sword to get rid of these things before they could touch her or Yona. "Okay! Planty! Do things with these plants!" She glances around and sees exactly what the scent was. Just beyond the tentacles is a rather tall and fat man that seemed to have no face, was about fifteen meters from them. She couldn't entirely tell through the fog, and she had her suspicions that Yona couldn't fully make out this guys features as much as she could.

With a grit of her teeth, Ada quickly hacked once more at the tentacles before she started to charge at this guy. Like hell was she going to let him do anything to her and Yona, or anymore kids. The fear that she was feeling earlier, it was intensifying. 'Ignore it. Ignore it. It's not real. Screw off...' The closer she got to this giant man, the more she realized he seemed to be something that was from one's nightmares. "Hey, Chubs! You need to go on a dieeeeet!" Her leg had been grabbed by a stray tentacle and was pulling her faster towards the figure than she had been running. As she looked past her leg, she saw a mouth thing opening on the figure, and she let up a shriek before she chucked her trefoil sword at him. As soon as the sword came close, it split into three swords and was spinning rather fast before they dug into his skin. Ada used her amped up strength from her scales to rip off the tentacle as she begun running backwards a bit, creating a distance between her and what she was guessing was the SwollenMan. "Hey Yona!" She cries out with a small snarl. "What was it that you said before about SwollenMan? That 'there's no monster man'? Welp! I think there's a monster man!" The dragon slayer couldn't help but quote Yona from the train as she was feeling ready to throw up from how rattled up her body was getting from being close to this thing.

Yona Hisamori tossed her head when she finally caught up to Adalinda in the fog and Ada grabbed her arm. She stood beside her, squinting to try and see but there was nothing in sight. Adalinda said that he smelled gross and Yona turned to look at her, thinking to remark on how silly it was to comment on how the presumed monster or mage smelled so poorly. As Ada's grip tightened on her arm and her eyes went wide, Yona instead held her tongue and turned to look. She now saw a fleshy corpulent figure and mumbled under her breath, "You have to be joking. A real SwollenMan?" Ada suggested a minefield but Yona made a face, it didn't seem practical here.

"Keep your wits about you too," Yona replied tugging her arm free and taking a casual step forward, her head tilting back and forth and scanning the fog. The figure was already gone and Yona felt a shudder pass through her body unbidden. Fear? Was she.. afraid? She hadn't been before but for a split second she was frozen in fear. Ada shouting out going face to face with the monster shook Yona out of her stupor and the plant mage watched in surprise as Ada fought tentacles with her sword. "Do planty things?" Yona answered stepping back, looking at the monster. She could see how it had gotten its name. Yona released a cloud of hormones, invisible to the eye, and a swarm of acid-spraying beetles appeared to attack and surround the monster entity. Yona cast two spells in quick succession, planning and then acting; the first covering her arms in thick yellow-tipped thorns, her poison thorn gauntlets might be the best in this situation after all, and the second summoning out a blaze of leaf blades.

Ada had been grabbed by a tentacle and was pulled swiftly towards the monster's body. Yona rushed inwards with her arms covered by brambles and punched the creature over and over until it released Adalinda. Yona couldn't tell if Ada had ripped the tentacle off or if she had somehow been of assistance with the issue. A split tri-sword attack launched over Yona's head and after her fifth or sixth punch, she thought it was a good chance to launch herself backwards. The young mage breathed hard, looking up at the monstrosity with its black tentacles and its gaping mouth. Suddenly it vanished into thin air and Ada cried out, "I think there's a monster man!" Yona glanced back at her quickly to shout, "Yeah well no duh, idiot! Just kill it already and-- behind you!" Yona stopped with enough time to warn her. The entity had teleported behind Adalinda again, persistent in obtaining its meal. Yona herself teleported inbetween the slayer and the monster, throwing herself into reach of the figure's stretching black tentacles. Not caring whom they grabbed, the tentacles wrapped around Yona in place of Ada and it was Yona's turn to let out a shriek.

A bursting torrent of wind appeared amongst the tentacles, in the small space between the monster's wriggling limbs and his open soul-less face. With the torrent came Yona's cyclone of leaf-blades, hacking and slashing the tentacles into ribbons, spurting black ichor into the air and spilling his life essence upon the ground. Yona dropped to her feet upon the ground, shaking and nauseated from the experience. The monster was in terrible condition now but after seeing what it could do, after imagining how frightened those children were when they were fed to this heathenish entity, Yona could not stop herself from allowing it to just bleed out and die. She wove her hands together and a bright green glow wrapped around the engorged figure's body. It turned to look at her and Ada without eyes, only a mouth which opened and closed desperately, attempting to bite at Yona. The glow touched the skin of the creature and immediately fouled its light skin. Her blight crawled over every inch of revealed skin, like creeping black mold or the bubons of a plague, until they covered its entire body.

Without an ending befitting its terrifying greatness, Yona simply allowed her blight to rot him into death, slow and painful, unavoidable. It attempted a teleport one last time, managing to move about 5 meters behind Yona and Adalinda, but when SwollenMan reappeared, he was a dead massive heap of bleeding tentacles and half decomposed flesh. Yona let out a large sigh and turned to Ada, "If you're all right, I think we should go back to that cave. Those kids need us and I saw some pretty cool weapons inside." Yona looked drained both mentally and physically, allowing Ada to see her weakness after such an intense night. She smiled a bit and reached out a hand to clasp in congratulatory acknowledgement of SwollenMan's defeat and Adalinda and her own brave fight. "Then maybe we should try getting some sleep. We have a match of alley-ball with the town kids tomorrow."WC: 7945+838= 8783HP: 150/300MP: 95/300